News releases

Tesco in Fresh Drive to Cut the Cost of Living for Cautious Consumers

27 Feb 2011

At a time when the Census is asking us about how we live, it is coping with the cost of living &#8211; from utility bills and tax rises to the weekly shop &#8211; that is occupying the minds of UK consumers according to Tesco&#8217;s latest research.

At a time when the Census is asking us about how we live, it is coping with the cost of living – from utility bills and tax rises to the weekly shop – that is occupying the minds of UK consumers according to Tesco’s latest research.

So Tesco is tomorrow [MONDAY 28th FEB] launching a £200m campaign to lower prices on more than 1,000 everyday items – from fruit and vegetables to bread, meat and medicines.

Richard Brasher, who this week becomes Tesco’s UK CEO, said: ‘Customers are telling us that they are putting a lot of thought into how to manage their household budgets.

‘Tesco cannot influence the cost of heating your home, or the price of your train ticket, or what tax you pay: this is our way of doing what we can to keep household spending manageable. Tesco will lower prices on more than 1,000 everyday products across our stores – from rice and tea to bleach and washing powder. These will benefit every one of our customers.’

Prices on popular items are being lowered – and in the example below, a customer would save £10.18 on a basket that would have cost £51.00.

Examples of price cuts include:

Product

Was

Now

Saving

Tesco Finest Traditional Pork Sausages 454g

£2.79

£2.58

21p

Tesco thin crust ham and pineapple pizza 270g

£2.35

£1.74

61p

Muller Vitality Strawberry Yogurt 6x125g

£1.60

£1.20

40p

Tesco British medium cheddar 250g

£1.85

£1.64

21p

PG Tips 240 teabags 750g

£5.45

£4.96

49p

Uncle Bens Express Long Grain Rice 250g

£1.99

£1.48

51p

Beechams Cold and Flu Lemon 10s

£3.10

£2.47

63p

Persil Powder Bio 4.25kg 50 washes

£12.26

£9.00

£3.26

Tesco Super Fit Nappies Economy Pack midi54

£8.00

£5.97

£2.03

Tesco baby wipes 80

98p

78p

20p

Tesco Medium Sliced white bread 800g

74p

69p

5p

Loose bananas kg

87p

77p

10p

Lincolnshire Desiree Potatoes 2.5kg

£1.95

£1.75

20p

Tesco no added sugar orange squash 1.5lt

£1.53

£1.35

18p

Tesco Finest sweetcure bacon 200g

£2.49

£1.86

63p

Tesco Pure Apple Juice 1l

£1.00

87p

13p

McVitie Rich Tea biscuits 300g

95p

76p

19p

Mild onions 3 pack class 2

£1.10

95p

15p

Totals

£51.00

£40.82

£10.18

Customers can compare Tesco’s prices to those at other supermarkets with Price Check. And now, if Tesco is not cheaper than Asda, the customer can claim back double the difference.*

Tesco’s research** – which is fully representative of Tesco’s 20 million UK customers – shows that headlines about rising transport costs, news on unemployment and policy announcements are the main cause of anxiety. However, 51 per cent say that they expect their household finances to improve or stay the same.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

*Tesco Price Check enables customers to compare their grocery shopping. Customers keep their receipt from their Tesco store shop*. They visit www.tesco.com/pricecheck, click on ‘check my shopping’ and then enter the details requested by the prompt. These are: the numbers at the bottom of the receipt and customer’s email address. Tesco replies with an email within 36 hours with a link to the comparison results. Clicking on this link shows whether or not the shop was cheaper than Asda. In the unlikely event that Tesco was not cheaper than Asda, Tesco will give a voucher for double the difference which can be used at the next shop in store. *Excludes Tesco Express, Petrol Filling Stations and Tesco Homeplus stores. For full terms and conditions please visit www.tescopricecheck.com/terms

**This research used a nationally representative sample of 1,200 people.